People will be able to choose from a wide range of medical
insurance programs when China reforms its public health system,
central government officials said.
Researchers and international organizations have long argued for
China to move away from a government monopoly of all health-related
services.
In January, Chen Wenhui, assistant chairman of the China
Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), said commercial insurance
services were a vital part of helping China build up "a multi-level
health care network with all its citizens insured".
At present, according to figures from the CIRC, commercial
health insurance covers only 10 percent of society's total medical
costs, a far cry from its expected target.
But there is growing optimism that comprehensive health cover
will contribute heavily to a healthier Chinese society.
"Commercial health insurance will surely play a considerable
role in the course of the Chinese medical reform," Liu Yongfu,
vice-minister of labor and social security, said on the sidelines
of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC).
Presently, the government-sponsored medical care plan, which is
available primarily for urban residents, takes care of only 20
percent of the total medical costs.
In other words, up to 70 percent of the nation's medical bills
could still be insured.
Government funding of the national medical care, of some 1.5-2
trillion yuan ($195-260 billion) per year, is mainly used to cover
the most common illnesses.
The remaining portion, up to 6 trillion yuan ($780 billion),
would be the area to be covered by various insurance programs,
whether based on collective arrangements or individual
purchases.
Such a medical funding scheme, according to Chen, would be an
ideal scenario to head off possible runaway medical bills, and give
people health security.
China commenced rebuilding its medical system in 2005, after
Beijing admitted previous attempts at reform were unsuccessful.
Many Chinese families have complained about spiralling health
costs.
But, there are plans to expand the "welfare umbrella" to help
ordinary Chinese people, improve the quality of medical services,
and cap drug prices and medical treatments.
The ultimate goal of the reform is to include all the citizens
in a multi-level health care and insurance system, according to
Health Minister Gao Qiang.
Insurance underwriters will in the process have wide access to
the health care market, according to Chen the CIRC official, as he
also urged them to "seize the opportunity" to expand their medical
insurance business.
Working together with the government finance and commercial
insurance programs can, as he said, help China avert a dramatic
rise in people's healthcare costs.
In fact, as early as 2004, the CIRC approved the People's
Insurance Corporation of China (PICC) to run pilot programs in the
healthcare market.
Nowadays, according to CIRC statistics, the demand for health
insurance in the world's most populous country is expected to rise
to no less than 3 trillion yuan ($390 billion) in 2008.
However, there are problems in matching the growing claims with
the premiums, at least in some regions.
Tan Qijian, a senior manager of PICC Health Insurance's Beijing
branch, told China Daily that some insurers had even suffered a
loss of as much as 200 percent in recent years from health
insurance schemes.
Wang Xianzhang, chairman of the Insurance Association of China,
said a comprehensive medical insurance network required a joint
effort by all sectors of society and the government.
He said the commercial health insurance industry was still
fumbling in its attempts to properly integrate with the government
framework of basic medical insurance for urbanites and rural
cooperative medical care.
"The most important thing the government can do at this point is
to define for us in the insurance industry what it will do and what
is left for the industry to do," he said.
(China Daily March 16, 2007)